Budgets updated to here

I'm in.. I'm in..
Well over last month so can I please be listed for £350 this is mainly due to holibobs and all, teens graze like sheep when I'm at work, tho eldest has just got a job at a local supermarket (the discount in a few weeks will come in handy & may allow me to reduce my budget again!) so fingers crossed for less munching!

Good morning everyone
well such a change in the weather here. It has been raining for the last few days and the garden is loving it. I have beautiful chives in the garden does anyone know if I they freeze well.
Last two days NSDs so everyday is a bonus.

Morning all! I've managed to spend a lot of my budget already as usual but have some ideas on how to manage the rest of the month - I'm still adding up spends so will update when I know exactly where I am...

Also -

Budgets updated to here

Morning everyone! I can't believe it's Friday already. Sheesh. This week genuinely flew by.
^^^ I am really glad I pulled that small ham shank out of the freezer and I have now started carving slices off it for meals. It is so good and I think this may be the way forward instead of buying packed slices of ham regularly. It'll come out to be less much expensive along with giving me ham bones to make bean soup in the winter. That's the only thing that makes me vaguely excited for cooler weather this fall.

Yesterday I went to Lidl and Delhaize, spending more in both places than intended.

€13.72 at Lidl. They still had packages of sliced English cheddar leftover from Brit Week, so I snatched up two of those. I also got olives, kiwis, mozzarella and a tub of tomatoes. The trout I went there for wasn't to be found at all along with a few other items like the cheaper tomatoes I wanted.

€42.70 at Delhaize. Lots of fruit, yoghurt, halloumi, butter, trout, 2x boxes of Mr. Freeze ice pops to keep at home and a few special items for OH like egg salad and smoothies. I told him last night that we should just start making egg salad at home since these small containers cost €1.85 each. We could make the same amount ourselves for about 20¢! He seems to be onboard and I'll try it this weekend. Turns out the trout non-sale pricing at Delhaize was actually cheaper than Lidl's sale price so that's a good deal I noted for later.

I'm just going to claim today as a NSD now because we don't need any other fruit or veg for the next couple days.

TOTALS SO FAR:
€79.94 / €300.00
1 / 12 NSD

That's such a huge amount and we're only 2 days into the month! We're not sure what the British expat store has in stock as it'll be our first time there tomorrow. I'm going with a basic list in mind but will try to restrain myself and try to remember that I'll still have access to it at a later time if need be. After the shop tomorrow, I think I may ration my weekly grocery spend to €35/week to keep in line. I'll update my sig tomorrow afternoon after we return from the Brit store. Have a lovely and cool Friday everyone!

Please can I join for £160. I've been sharing food costs with someone in the family but want to go it alone now, partly to save money, partly to continue with weight loss. My last contribution to food costs was £180 for the month of June and I expect it will be something similar for July, so £160 seems a good starting point.

£29.47 spent today.
Mostly tin and dry goods bought. So for the rest of the month it is basically only going to be fresh, though need some frozen vegetables. Not as sad to look at the budget left when I think it like that.

£86.54/£155.
£68.46 left.

£5.53 on amazon subscribe and save parcel of Vital Wheat Gluten flour.

I'm peed off i had to rebuy this, but because my (rented) kitchen has been extended into what was the yard, it isn't entirely weatherproof and the bags i had stocked up on went mouldy and had to be binned

Hello All. I went over on the last day of the July budget. So annoying as it was completely my fault. It was a back from holiday, hangover shop. I won't be doing that again.

Budget for August will be £500. So £50 more as I have a guest for a week and my family birthday party to cater for. I always spend too much.

So weekly shop at lldl and salns, and paid milkman, bringing me to £113.40. There is loads in the fridges, freezers and cupboards.

Thank you for the thread. Good luck all. Xx

£72 spent yesterday & today, on fresh meat, fish, cheese, fruit, veg & bread, which will mostly do us all week along with allotment pickings & home-laid eggs, though I'll also be doing a "non-perishables" run to L!dls tomorrow or Tuesday.

We've just spent a small fortune on a "proper" chicken run and coop, as our 15 y.o. shed-&-old-aviary-panel arrangement has reached the end of its useful life, so we've invested in something that looks a bit less hillbilly-ish, as we may be looking to sell our house & move west before too long. This arrangement could move with us, but would at least look neater for potential buyers, whether they'd want to keep poultry or not. So I really need to stick to budget this month & for the foreseeable future; there are other tarting-up expenses upcoming.

Can I be added for £80 for the month. To include all food, etc., but not alcohol, I'm gonna spend as much as I want for the last of the summer - then get back to that little thing of healthy living in September she says quaffing on her 3rd cocktail. Wasn't going to join this month, in a very 'lazy' mood. Five shops later, two to the market, three to the supermarket, fridge rammed somewhat full - so here I iz. Anyway in all I have spent £28.46/£80, and it's only day 3 - not intending on buying anything else for the foreseeable future. Oh yeah, n spent another £11 out of bulk fund on toilet rolls, Vegenaise, blah blah. Shopping is so overrated. I honestly prefer saving.Oh dear - n it ain't cheap. I made my first batch of seitan last week, a basic batch n some steaks - so shocked at how they tasted like real steak. Will be slightly tweeking n making more soon.




Anyway, I'm out for lunch tomorrow n a barbeque in the evening, so will start meal planning hopefully Sunday. Have a lovely w/e everyone.

Good morning everyone
£15+ spent this morning. First spend of the month.
Avoiding shops for the rest of the weekend.
Will be out and about but not going near any shops. (famous last words)
Have a great weekend everyone whatever you plan to do.

First shop done at Mr T. A whopping £94.61!
Few extras as our 4 year old granddaughter is coming to stay for the week tomorrow. Wine was also on offer so bought 8 bottles.
£255.39 left!

We skipped going to the Brit store today as OH was feeling slow and sluggish. He was moving in slow motion the whole morning even though we woke up early enough to venture out before it got too hot. So, we’ve pushed the trip to tomorrow morning. Today has at least been a NSD! We’ve been sucking down Mr. Freeze icees the whole day to keep cool.

TOTALS SO FAR:
€79.94 / €300.00
2 / 12 NSD

Hi everyone

I've got all my budgets up to date and I have £59.50 left of my £200 budget. ALREADY. I can't even say I'm fully stocked up as I will need a couple of salad bits, but not really anything else for a few days I don't think. I have exactly 3 weeks left of my budget this month so I'll need to go a bit careful, but I think if I'm really on top of it, I might be able to come in on budget this month. It will be the first one in a long while! If I do!!

Budgets updated to here

Bought a potato yesterday 65p, I intended to have some chips, ate too much other rubbish and forgot to get steak out of freezer, so spud gone into spud bag for later in the week, will add £1 when I make a proper spend.

Oh dear. Seems like we got caught up in buying things at the Brit store.

€113.60 at Brit store: we bought a lot of shelf stable items like lime pickle, different kinds of HP sauce, ginger conserve, and more. We also got several pies to put in the freezer along with a haggis and a mealie pudding. The pies were surprisingly only €1.50 or €3.00. I also got two more blocks of cheddar.

At first I was trying to be careful adding up things as we put them in our basket but OH told me, "Don't worry or bother about this. This will be a blow out." As in, just put in what we like. Still, I was paying attention to prices but totally forgot to look at the prices of the Waitrose chicken kievs...€7.50! I didn't notice until we were on the bus back home!

What we did notice is that some of the prices really weren't that much more than if we bought them in the regular grocery store here in our city or more than a currency translation from pound to euro. Of course, the chocolate Hobnobs were €2.50 instead of 50p, and the chicken kievs, etc but those are obviously their money makers. I tried hard to remind myself that we could just come back another time if anything else is desired. We'll return later in autumn for sausages and things.

€10.40 at the rotisserie chicken/meat truck in my local market. I bought a chicken leg quarter, a small ham shank to slice off this week, and some roast potatoes for OH.

6.20 at the veg market for avocados, arugula and bananas.

TOTALS SO FAR:
€210.14 / €300.00
2 / 12 NSD

I need to have a word with myself... Only €89.86 left for the month and we're only 5 days in. Jeebus. Well, at least I don't have to buy anymore cheddar for a bit. Time to just eat down the stocks which I have been doing lately. I pulled out a YS duck leg yesterday and I'll cut some of that up to make a stir fry tonight; I'll also do a curry for OH to take to work the next few days too.

Good luck everyone and I sincerely hope y'all are doing much better than me!!

Small shop today, mainly loo rool & toiletries. Total so far for August £47/£140

Hi all,

Spent £54.58 in Aldi and £13.60 in Tesco this weekend...So £68.18/£500 spent. Hopeful that I should be able to stick to the budget this month but we shall see.

Good morning everyone
rainy and murky this morning. Thank goodness washing is up to date and got most of it washed, dried, and ironed yesterday. I did want to change and wash bedding today but washing it will have to wait for another day.
Planning to clean out another two shelves in my wardrobe. Will have to start to fill another bag for the charity shop.
I am blessed with very generous friends and family but I just don't have the storage space for everything I am given. I know that may sound ungrateful and I don't want it to. I try to pass on extra I am given or donate to charity.
I have dropped hints the last few years re presents and have suggested some bits and bobs I need/use. e.g. shower lotion, deodorant, shampoo, body lotion. I know this might sound terrible but my family will give me gifts anyway and they are always at a loss as to what to give me so they are grateful for any guidance on what they could buy.
This also brings down my GC budgets as my GC total covers everything e.g toiletries, cleaning materials etc. I also now receive vouchers for little treats e.g. afternoon tea, cinema etc. which are lovely. I also try to give "anti clutter" gifts. Last year I gave some of my friends I.O.U. vouchers for home made cakes. They were delighted with them.
I am running low on washing powder. Usually buy giant box from Costc* but hoping to hang off until next month before I visit.
Going to take out a gammon steak for dinner. Not sure whether to incorporate it into some type of pasta dish or just have it with potatoes and veg. Will decide nearer the time. Meal plan a bit flexible at the moment as I am trying to eat up some freezer stocks but no hard and fast rules re recipes.